Lipstick and Lies — Margit Liesche

Women Airforce Service Pilot and undercover agent, Pucci Lewis, did not want to go to jail. But how else could she unmask Grace Buchanan-Dineen, an imprisoned countess-counteragent suspected of triple dealing and possibly putting our country's future at risk?

Dineen, a real-life figure, led a German spy ring that operated in Detroit during WWII. Confronted by the FBI, she agreed to act as a counteragent helping to nail the other ring members. Jailed along with her cohorts--"for her own protection"--her rancor ran deep.

Enter Pucci, landing in a B-24 bomber at the Willow Run aircraft factory. Late for a meeting, she takes a shortcut and stumbles upon a corpse. Agent Dante appears and reveals the dead man to be a German spy. A fellow Willow Run employee, Otto Renner, has been under surveillance and the FBI suspects a link between Renner and the imprisoned countess. Dante convinces Pucci to become a sister inmate to see what she can learn.

Pucci's undercover work quickly ratchets up. In addition to her jail assignment, she infiltrates a posh women's club where Dineen, billed as a "charm consultant," once lectured. Her mission: Are Dineen's former club contacts, the chic Barclay-Bly sisters and the club's beautician, Mrs. Otto Renner, moles?

A romance brewing between Pucci and Dante is sidelined by professional demands when they partner up on a surreptitious break in. As the story unfolds, they not only expose the espionage ring but also confront an even greater threat to home land security.